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Wednesday, 01 August 2007 |
Learn pros, cons of breastfeeding
By KAREN CAMPBELL
Staff Writer
For a Wapakoneta mother of three, Christina Lee, the question of whether to breastfeed wasn’t even a question.
The mother chose to breastfeed all of her children, the oldest who is 8 and the youngest who is just 4 months old.
“It’s something I knew I wanted to do,” Lee said. “It was the best thing I could do for my babies, and I knew the least I could do was try.”
This week marks Breastfeeding Week around the world and the beginning of Breastfeeding Awareness Month in Ohio.
This year’s theme, “Breastfeeding: The Crucial First Steps,” focuses on research-based policies and practices that have been shown to result in breastfeeding success.
Included in those practices the Ohio Health Department wants to promote are skin-to-skin contact between mother and baby right after birth, 24-hour rooming in, initiating breastfeeding within the first hour of birth and then on demand, not giving a breastfed baby a pacifier until the mother’s milk supply is established (usually around three or four weeks), and access to good hospital-grade pumps if mother and baby must be separated.
Jenny Boroff, a certified lactation consultant with the Auglaize County Health Department, said the week and month of recognition gives the Auglaize County Women Infants and Children (WIC) program the opportunity to teach mothers and their families the crucial first steps to breastfeeding success.
“Once the decision to breastfeed has been made, we must provide a supportive environment from birth to encourage the initiation and continuation of breastfeeding,” Auglaize County WIC Director Cindy McFarland said. “Ultimately, our whole society will benefit from having healthier mothers, babies and children.”
Lee, 25, said while breastfeeding her children initially did hurt, the benefits she’s seen are worth it.
“The kids aren’t sick as often as other kids their age, and I lost a lot of the weight I gained with my pregnancies,” Lee said. “A lot of people are worried about different things, but it’s so worth it.”
In addition, Lee said she doesn’t waste time making bottles of formula while her daughter cries.
Since the birth of her daughter, Briana Lee, Lee has since returned to work, but even there, she uses breaks and lunches to pump. WIC provided an electric pump to take to work and the factory where she works offered her the nurse’s station for privacy.
“I wasn’t breastfed, my mom wasn’t able to do it,” Lee said. “She’s really proud I’ve been able to, though, and my oldest daughter is already seeing it’s importance and saying she’s going to do the same when she grows up and has a baby.”
Lee said she’s been supported through the WIC program, with periodic follow-up calls, check-ups during appointments and knowing that she can call there if she has any questions.
“I’m just so glad I decided to do it,” Lee said.
She said she would probably continue to breastfeed her daughter as long as she can, hopefully for at least her first year of life.
Boroff said it’s tough to breastfeed when mothers are working, but it can be done and Lee is proof that if a mother really wants to do it, she can find a way. It also helps to have the support of the father and the mother’s family.
“Breastfeeding is so much better for the baby — healthier and less costly, too,” Boroff said. “Every ounce of breast milk they get is better than nothing. That’s why they call it ‘liquid gold,’ but the mother has to have an open mind. We encourage them to at least get the information and then decide. And the more they know about it, the more successful they will be.”
While breastfeeding is not mandatory of all WIC clients, it is highly encouraged and the expectant mothers are well informed about the option so they make the best decision.
WIC offers breastfeeding classes, as do area hospitals, and provides either manual or electric pumps to those who qualify, to further encourage the practice.
More than 40 Auglaize County WIC mothers were breastfeeding in June, Boroff said.
In a news release, Ohio Health Department Director Dr. Alvin Jackson said mothers’ milk enhances the growth, development and well-being of infants by providing the best possible nutrition and protection against specific infections and allergies and the benefits are strongest when exclusive breastfeeding is practiced from birth through the first six months of life.
Research proves the practices the state Health Department is promoting enhance the ability to successfully breastfeed, according to a release from the county health department.
According to the news release, skin-to-skin contact right after birth promotes bonding.
Breastfeeding within an hour of birth allows the baby to try nursing when she is still alert from the birthing experience. Early introduction to bottles and pacifiers cause some babies to refuse the breast and can interrupt the mother’s growing milk supply.
Twenty-four hour rooming together allows the mother to learn her baby’s hunger cues and decreases the chance that a bottle of formula will be given to the breastfed infant.
For mothers and babies who cannot nurse right after delivery, the use of a hospital-grade pump designed to initiate a milk supply will be needed, according to the release. This type of pump may be necessary until the baby has learned to latch on.
Studies also show formula samples offered to breastfeeding mothers “just in case” lead to lactation failure. Instead, hospitals are encouraged to refer mothers and their families to breastfeeding support services upon discharge. |
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Last Updated ( Friday, 03 August 2007 )
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